Apple Macbook Air

I bought an Apple Macbook Air for all four of my children to see them through High School thinking that Apple products last longer (my old Macbook Pro lasted long). I think R13500 per laptop is a substantial investment. Just over a year later, my daughter's laptop died out of the blue. I sent it to the Istore (Sandton) for repair and received a repair quote of R12500! The iStore admitted that there was no sign of negligence on our part. I have written to Apple (hard to find contact emails btw) and called their international call center and basically have been told, "tough luck". How can they justify a 1-year warranty on such an expensive item? Even my vacuum cleaner has a 2-year warranty. All our family devices are Apple products but I am now going to be switching over to another brand because of this. Not feeling like a valued customer at all!